Summary: The festival of Dussehra celebrates the victory of Lord Rama over the evil Ravana. However, the deeper significance of this occasion, is to look within and defeat the fundamental darkness that lurks in our own lives and keeps us from living up to our full potential. Shalini Sridhar lists out certain negative tendencies that entrepreneurs must overcome to excel in business.

In school we are taught every good habit by the book. Study, go to bed early, eat right, respect your elders, do your work on time and so on. As life progresses, for some people it changes and things that are considered bad habits for some crop up.

Just as bad habits have a negative impact on your life, they have an equally bad impact on your business and company.

Some of the bad habits that can have a damaging effect on your role as an entrepreneur are:

1. Not sticking to Cost/ Schedule/ Quality

One of the biggest mistakes an entrepreneur can make is not sticking to their cost quality schedule mantra. Is the product or service made with cost in mind? Does it pass basic quality parameters? Is the product or service completed on time? Just follow this and your customers will be flocking to you again and again.

2. Biting off more than you can chew

In the early phases of business, it is quite easy to fall into the trap of taking on more than you can actually handle. Taken a new project? Stick to what has been agreed and avoid adding on more unless necessary.  It might be more prudent to delegate tasks to people you can trust. 

3. Not delegating

Speaking of delegation, a bad habit that all business owners are guilty of are trying to do everything by themselves. Granted the company you create is your baby and you want to run it with the best possible intentions. Sometimes this leads to trust issues with delegating tasks to others.  Without delegation, you take on too much and this can again lead to burnout. Trust your employers and coworkers. Learning to delegate certain tasks poses new challenges and promotes motivation.

4. Dress for success

The success of your business depends wholly on you. If you want your business to succeed, then look good and feel good. How you present yourself speaks volumes about you as a person and in extension about your business.  Top bosses like Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs always dressed in the same clothes everyday taking out the stress of deciding what to wear.  Take time to care for your appearance. When customers see well-dressed individuals, they will be more inclined to do business with you.

5. Finding the opportunity cost and doing your homework

Economics 101 defines opportunity cost as the loss of one alternative when another alternative is chosen. For an entrepreneur, choosing the opportunity cost is all to common.  Do you take Project A or Project B?  Do your homework. Is it safer to undertake a product based on your company’s strengths or take a risk?

6. Risks! To take or not take?

Although sometimes it is safe to stick to one’s strengths, it is also a bad habit to not take risks. Without risks, you run the danger of allowing yourself and your company to never grow. Carefully constructed calculated risks need to be taken from time to time for new challenges.

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